Species Survival Plan®

	About Clouded Leopards

	About Clouded Leopards
	Baby Clouded Leopards
	Clouded Leopard Status
	Species Survival Plan ®
	CL Husbandry Manual
	Zoos with Clouded Leopards

Species Survival Plan®

Clouded leopards living in North American zoos are collectively managed through a Species Survival Plan®, or SSP, administered by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The overall goals of the Clouded Leopard SSP program are to address captive management issues, stabilize population demographics, improve the population’s genetics, and develop conservation efforts in clouded leopard range countries.

Throughout the mid 1990s the SSP concentrated on improving the genetics of the population by recommending the breeding of 16 individuals whose bloodlines were not overly represented in the captive population. However, these recommended breedings resulted in very limited numbers of young produced.

By 1998, with the population aging, the need to have more young born to stabilize demographics was becoming critical. As a result, all compatible pairs were recommended for breeding with a target level of 11 births per year to keep the population in a state of growth. At the same time, the SSP population was declared a research population. This designation relaxed the need to make breeding recommendations based strictly on the genetic or demographic needs of the population. Instead, the primary goal of the SSP became to carry out fundamental research into clouded leopard behavior in order to improve captive management and artificial reproduction.

The SSP management group also recommended not separating established compatible pairs to make new pairings in an effort to increase genetic diversity. Aggression between adult individuals makes the creation of new pairs both difficult and especially dangerous to female clouded leopards. A survey conducted in 1997 indicated that 64% of the responding institutions had experienced mate incompatibility resulting in the death of 20 females.

Current North American Population Size	30.39.6 (75)
Target Population Size	120
Number of Participating Institutions	31
Current Genetic Diversity of Population	0.805
Founder Genome Equivalent	2.57
Potential Founder Genome Equivalent	4.95
Mean Inbreeding Coefficient	0.204
# of pairs recommended for natural breeding	20
# of animals recommended for use in artificial reproduction research	0.16
# of births needed in the next year to achieve targeted growth rate	16
# of transfers recommended to achieve goals	6

There were no births within the SSP between January 1, 2006 and April 1, 2007.

During that same time period there were 8 deaths within the SSP.

There is still serious concern for the demographics of the zoo-based clouded leopard population. The breeding population is aging and the young born over the last few years have not yet produced offspring. In order to assure a viable population in the future, a large number of births need to occur over the next few years.

In addition to the demographic problems of the population, the need to increase its genetic diversity is critical. The majority of the SSP population can trace its ancestry to three individual animals. Efforts are now underway to introduce new founder animals.

The SSP will need to import 4 unrelated animals every 5 years for the next 20 years in order to achieve a genetic diversity of 85% in the population.

Two animals were imported from the Thailand breeding program in 2005, however neither of those animals have yet successfully paired and bred. Import permits are pending for the importation of 4 additional animals from the Thailand project. These animals have already been paired in Thailand and will be placed at the National Zoo Conservation and Research Center and the Nashville Zoo for breeding.

Artificial reproduction trials also continue for clouded leopards in North American, however, no offspring have been produced since the only successful artificial insemination at the Nashville Zoo in 1992.